Why would the antichrist bother?!

I've been reading this site for years and I am easily engrossed by all manner of theories on here. It's a pleasure to be making my first post and I
hope someone will be able to answer my question.

If, so it is said, the armageddon etc does actually occur with the antichrist rising only to be defeated, then why would he/she bother if the outcome
is already foretold?

I've always wondered this and was hoping someone may be able to shed some light on it. Lately i've been contemplating life etc and it's quite
depressing to think it may just be pointless, don't like the thought of reincarnation (whats the point of starting over and over again with no
previous memories and loved ones), and I also find the idea of a heaven quite hard to swallow! I wish i had more faith but i just find it hard to
believe in a God to be truthful. Wish something could put me at ease!

Hi, welcome to ATS. Good first post. I always enjoy posts that make you think.

Let me first state that, in Armageddon, as presented in the Bible (Revelations), I do not think that it is a evil vs. good battle.

I interpret revelations as in 3 steps.

1. The Antichrist is made known, and he/she begins to assemble his/her followers.

2. The devout and holy are lifted into heaven for saftey (the rapture).

3. The remaining situation is unclear as far as I'm concerned. I personally think this is the part where god comes down and cleanses the earth of all
evil, possibly restoring it to the garden of eden. I hope god gives those of us (including me) who are not sure about him a chance to reconsider after
the rapture happens. LOL. Or i'm screwed !

If your Lucifer, why resist if God will just come down and wipe you out of existence? Well maybe because Lucifer knows a lot more about God then we
do? Maybe God isn't as all powerful and omnipotent as we are led to believe he is? I'm assuming there hasn't been an armageddon in the history of
man before, so really Lucifer doesn't know if he can win. Revelations isn't the sole and last word on the matter my friend, its only an
intrepretation.

As you say about the rapture, people being taken up into heaven for safety. Why? What about all the millions of good people in the past and present
who have been murdered and put through great pain, where was their safety? Why will the people in the rapture deserve the safety when people just as
good and devout as them were killed in the past?

I personally find all of this topic fascinating, even moreso than UFO's and such

If, so it is said, the armageddon etc does actually occur with the antichrist rising only to be defeated, then why would he/she bother if the
outcome is already foretold?

Well, Satan once tried to overpower God in a bid for ultimate power, thus becoming what he is today. Maybe Satan really think that he will succeed
again by "at least" taking control of the world?

But the same question can also be applied to humans as well, or at least if you are a Christian. The New World Order is, in a way, also already
predicted, so we can't really do anything about that as well. Even if we somehow stop it now, what's to say that it won't come back again in a
thousand years?

I'm assuming there hasn't been an armageddon in the history of man before, so really Lucifer doesn't know if he can win.

Lucifer already tried to take God's place, before he got cast down to hell. I think that you are right that Lucifer still doubts God's powers, I
mean, people do that too.

What about all the millions of good people in the past and present who have been murdered and put through great pain, where was their
safety?

But they are already dead, so they are in either hell or heaven, depending of course on what they did in life.

Why will the people in the rapture deserve the safety when people just as good and devout as them were killed in the past?

Because the rapture is a kind of final step of human history. Like I said, people who did good and died before the rapture will be judged according to
their deeds in life.

The antichrist himself would just be a pawn of the Devil. Probably oblivious to his own fate and blinded by power. I'm sure he will believe that he
picked the right side in the battle.

Very true. I am not even sure that the person who becomes the "anti-Christ" will ever be fully aware of who he is. While he may certainly realize
that he is supposed to do some "grand" thing, he may very well never realize the magnitude of his actions.

It is quite apparent that he doesn't really become a tyrannical individual until he receives the "fatal wound" to the head. This seems to indicate
that only after he receives a blow to the head, most likely a bullet, does he become the "monster" that so many of us dread. I hate to say it, but
when an attempt on your life is made, you tend to turn into a "monster." I can't say that I wouldn't react harshly as well if someone tried to
kill me.

The devil or anti-christ or whatever has been pretty successful I imagine. Or at least hes gathered plenty of souls. This may be boosting his ego a
bit and perhaps he feels God has underestimated his abilities.

Or, just because his doom is fated it doesnt mean he should just give up. All of us are born just to die but it doesnt keep us from living. Well, most
of us.

Or, Satan or whatever, is just part of God's testing us and is actually working for God and as such will not be destroyed. Or maybe he will. Like an
ultimate sacrifice on his part to ensure heaven for the righteous and not just every slob born.

The're are many more scenerios but I dont want to create a massive post everyone will just scan by and scroll past.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
that explaination doesn't work because the antichrist would be human, and therefore have free will

We all have free will, satan has free will. That's why he did what he did and we did what we did, and we are where we are.

We can be blinded by our pride, and give ourselves over to it and lose what control we thought we had. That's when we become a puppet. If you don't
believe the puppet master exists, it makes the job that much easier for him. You don't fight the strings.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
here's why the antichrist would bother, the story wouldn't make sense if he didn't.

When you're living the story line it's gonna be made to make sense, if not by you, by somebody else.

You can't change it. Even you are part of the story line. You are written.

Some interesting points have been made here personally I would agree with the train of thought that one, the Antichrist doesn't know it and two, the
devil is evil and misguided, and thinks he can win. However it doesn't really concern me because I'll be raptured before it becomes a significant
problem for the world.

lol there is nothing wrong with being confident in your salvation, I'm the youth worker for my church, I witness to people everyday, so if I wasn't
sure that I was saved then how on earth could I tell them that they can be? I'm 18 now and I don't believe I'll ever experience physical death I
think the world is reach the pointed suggested in the bible for the rapture, hough I'm not 100% sure, people have thought it in the past and have
been wrong. But whether I die or I'm raptured either way I will not be around when the Antichrist is a problem.
I don't even know who LaHaye is I came to my beliefs through prayerful consideration of the bible, nothing else, I'm not particularly interested in
what philosophers or scholars have to say on the subject, its Gods word not theirs, so if I don't understand part of it I go to God.

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